"She never snores like that unless she's put in a full day of giggles and grunts," she laughed to herself with a look of surprise. She almost looked proud of me.

"Well, her and Uncle Frank sure do make a cute pair. I've never seen his eyes light up like that before," I drifted off a little.

"I have," she smiled with her amazing confidence. "It's the way he looks at you."

"It's not the same," I said shy.

"Of course it is," she said unwavering.

"She was a blast," I said changing the subject. I stepped closer to her and let my flame fade away. "Thank you for tonight Sam."

"Your welcome," she smiled again. We stood quietly for a moment not saying a thing. She watched me as I tried to find my courage. The rain fell on the edge of the city, far from Sam's place, but it smelled as if it were raining just outside her apartment windows. It made me anxious and she knew it. Her face looked guarded as she watched me now. Thankfully Madi made a cooing sound from her crib loud enough for us both to hear and I calmed a little.

"Oh, I almost forgota" she whispered. Sam shuffled over to a living room desk and pulled open the top drawer. She removed something carefully and walked back over to me. I watched her in a slight trance.

"Here," she said holding out her hand. Inside of her fingers was a large photo of Madison. It was the same shot she had given me before, only bigger. My fingers quickly started tracing the round lines of her perfect face. I fell silent, lost in my own little world. She stood quietly, watching me with a proud smile.

"Well, it's official, she has my heart," I gasped in a whisper.

"Mine too," she said more serious than I was expecting.

"Thank you," I said.

"Your welcome," she smiled bigger. I could feel myself getting lost in her emerald eyes. So I forced my head uncomfortably toward Kai's bag again. She watched me cautiously.

"Kai said you two ran into some trouble the other day," she spoke softly with a nervousness I wasn't used to hearing in her voice. Her eyes searched my torso for any obvious damage. Kai must have filled her in on my rescue.

"Nothing to worry about," I said staring at the luggage. She was avoiding telling me what was really going on. I turned to her, determined.

"Sam, you want to tell me what's going on. I just saw Kai earlier and he didn't mention anything about going anywhere." My question made her obviously upset.

"Kai and I have recently hit a snag," she said. I wilted a little.

"You mean me."

After a long slow breath she looked directly into my eyes and whispered, "Yes."

"I didn't mean toa" I tried to say, but she quickly cut me off.

"He's staying at his parents house until I work through some things," she said even softer and stepped closer to me.

"What things?" I pushed and slowly shuffled a step closer to her. I slid my new picture of Madi into my back pocket carefully. She acted as if she would step away from me but didn't.

"I knew I had some unresolved feelings about usaabout youabut I wasn't expecting them to be thisa" she trailed off, almost reaching for me. I leaned right up next to her. I could sense her shaking lightly as I looked down at her. Her hair fell softly over her exposed shoulder. She looked so soft and inviting.

"Powerful," she finished.

"I know what you mean," I added as our faces fell inches away from one another. Our breaths combined together, soft and warm. It was a perfect moment, or so I thought. Her face fell hard and she looked away from me. It was stupid of me to think it would be this easy.

"Do you?" she accused. She sounded as hurt as the day I left her standing in the hall of the hospital. The day I came back to life. That afternoon she was ready to spend the rest of her days together with me but insteadaI left.

"Sam, I didn't leave because I didn't love you. I left because I needed to understand that love," I caved.

"With Asia!" she snapped and I thought for sure we would wake Madi. Ignoring her anger, I pulled her to me and kissed her. Softly at first but then harder as she kissed me back.

"No! It's not that easy Max! It is not going to be that simple," she scolded before pulling away from me and turning to the window. I took a step back and looked down the hallway towards Madi's room and then back toward Sam. Her cheeks were wet with fresh tears.

"Yes it is," I whispered with confidence.

"I don't knowa"

"We made the most amazing human together, she is perfect. She was meant to be here," I sounded determined.

"Max?" she asked, confused.

"Madison is supposed to be here on this island. We were supposed to make her. I know it deep down inside of me." I stepped back toward her again. "So if that is true, then we are supposed to be together," I finished with my eyes closed.

"Maxanoa" she fought my words so I pushed even harder.

"Here I am Sam. My guitar in one hand and my heart in the other." It sounded sappy but it was the truth. It felt right to want to be with her. It felt good to want to be with her. I felt safe. She started to cry and leaned into my chest. With fresh tears in her eyes she looked up at me and kissed me slowly. Heat rose up in my chest and popped like static electricity between us. Our moment would not last though, as the thunder scratched at the windows with a steady rumble. It broke my concentration and scared her.

"Sama" I tried to get the moment back but her attention was on the big raindrops that began peppering her windows. Lightning flickered through the distant, dark, grey skies unnaturally. As my fingers slid across her warm cheek, she put her walls back up.

"She's here isn't she? Asia's back too."

"Yes," I gave up in a weak whisper. She pulled from my grasp and pushed her small frame past me. She walked to her window and studied the streaks of rain along the pane.

"I can't do this again Max. Not now. Not with Madi." Her words were strong and cold.

"Do what?" I asked, scared.

"You know, this dance between the three of us." Her arms crossed.

"Sam please."

"Max, watching you walk away from me was the hardest thing I ever dealt with! I didn't realize just how much I loveda" she cut herself off quickly. It made me shrink to hear her do it.

"Sama" I wanted to pull her to me.

"You better go." She couldn't even look at me. Her eyes locked on the wet glass.

"No!" I growled and my chest filled with fire.

"I need time to thinkathis is too hard." I could barely hear her over the falling rain. I walked up to her and she watched my reflection in the window until the heat I was generating caused it to fog over.

"We've had plenty of time to think Sam," I warned.

"Max I can't!" Her walls were strong.

"Who's running now?" I asked with more anger than I probably should have. My feet pushed me back to the front door as my temper grew more. Thunder greeted me as I opened it quickly.

"I'm sorry for everything I did that hurt you Sam. I cannot change the past." I turned to meet her prying green eyes again.

"You taught me that," I whispered. She began to sob again but I had been through enough tonight. The last thing I wanted to deal with right now were those accusing tears. I felt numb.

"Max."

"Goodnight," I growled and walked out into the rain. It felt comforting on my hot skin. The fires welled up and steam twirled upward and into the night sky. But as angry as I was at Sam, I was even angrier with myself. I deserved this pain. I had earned it. The most amazingly, horrible truth was that as I loaded my pitiful self into my uncle's truck with a semi breaking heart, I missed Asia. I missed her touch, her smell. She was my fire after all.

My curse.

Castaway - 18.

*A Beautiful Mess: Jason Mraz*

11:49 p.m.

I was becoming a ghost of who I used to be. Sam was always on my mind. Except when I closed my eyes. When I fell into that familiar darkness, I belonged to Asia. Her and her storm. It only took me a half hour to track down that ghost and the eye of her storm. Fat raindrops and deserted streets led me to the pier where she and her gigantic luxury cruiser sat idle. Peaceful and calm, it floated as her tantrum spun the rest of the isle into the dark ages. Her smell hit me immediately, making the fires in my chest pop with anticipation. I was still plenty mad at her for keeping me in the dark about my uncle and his sickness. Sam and Madison had complicated my feelings for her immensely, but she still felt like a part of me. I guess that would never go away. I don't think I wanted it to anyways. Neither did my fire.

Before I could get out of the truck, she was there. Silent and beautiful but stubbornly still mad at me. Her arms locked across her chest as she watched me approach from the stern of her ship. She stood above the word DAMSEL painted along the ship in blood red. The only light left was from the full moon, and it filled her angry face like a painting. She was so beautiful. We watched each other without speaking. I didn't know what to say, heckaI didn't even know why I had come here. I guess I just needed some answers. With a twitch of her hip and a flicker of lightning over our heads she spoke up first.

"She has your mouth." Her eyes shimmered a little with tears welling inside of them but she managed a slight smile at the corner of her mouth. It helped me find my sea legs and step aboard the ship. I walked up next to her and let out a long sigh.

"You don't have to punish the island just because you're mad at me," I said, and the thunder grumbled above me.

"Your beautiful mouth," she continued through tight lips.

"Asia," I sighed.

"How dare she be so beautiful!" she cursed. She sounded jealous but she didn't seem as mad now.

"She has my sisters curly hair," I added with a smile. Asia watched me light up when I said it, and she seemed to crumble a little afterwards. I took her hand in mine, softly. It was cool to my touch and I had missed it truly.

"Asia, I don't want to fight tonight. That's not why I came here."

"Max, if you're here to make me leave, it's not going to happen!" she warned softly.

"I don't know why I'm here. I think I just need some answers."

"You need answers!" She awoke with her storm again. The boat began to rock lightly as the sea grew uneasy.

"Yes," I winced.

"Are you serious? I need some answers too!" she said, and clawed her way right in front of my tired brown eyes. The wind howled along the water and my arms wanted to embrace her. I had already begun to steam from my fire, and her breath inhaled my emotional side effect. Her eyes were steel.

"All right, you first," I gave in and she softened slightly.

"Did you come back for Frank or her?"

"How can you ask me that? I didn't even know about Madia"

"That's not the HER I was talking about!" Her fingers scratched against my chest and she could feel the heat under my shirt.

"OhaI don't know."

"How dare you! I give you everything and it's not enough!" she screamed, and the waves pushed against the boat making my stomach uneasy.

"Everything! You call keeping Frank's sickness from me everything?" I asked, more hurt than mad.

"Max that was different."

"I could have helped him before my healing ability faded! You should have told me about his health as soon as you knew!" I found my anger again.

"I did my best."

"Best? And what about all the money you spent on him and your lawyers?" I added.

"Money?" She tried to play coy, making me even madder.

"I saw the papers. Lawyer fees, doctor fees!"

"I did that for you," she said with her hand on my face to try and calm me. Her hands felt wonderful but I wanted nothing of it.

"I'm trying to understand Asiaamake me understand," I warned, as I pulled her hand from my face. Her eyes fell sadder and she pushed closer up against me.

"When you died I felt guilty for not doing more to keep you safe. I couldn't save you and the guilt was choking me." She looked for my understanding. I tried to hide it but she knew me too well. She knew I would forgive her. She knew that deep down she still had a piece of me.

"I vowed that I would keep the rest of your family safe. At any price."

"Asia." I ran my hand along her hip to her lower back. She acted as if she would pull away but her eyes locked onto me like a weight.

"So that's what I did. Frank needed help and I did what I did. And I'd do it all again!" she yelled with more than enough guilt seeping into her words.

"How can I to trust you now? I needed you to be completely honest. Not what you thought would be honest enough," I scolded, and her eyes filled with wetness. The boats rocking started to settle again.

"You know you can trust me."

"I trusted you to come back with me. I needed you and you weren't there Asia," I continued to be stubborn. She pulled away from me and turned her back on me.

"Max, I'm sorry I didn't come back with you. I was just too caught up in our time together. Too deep in our adventures. I was tooain love," she finished, and this time she was crying gently. Her hand ran along her matching necklace I had given her in China.

"Our heaven," I whispered. She turned around quickly and pushed her lips into me.